Without similar action being taken across the rest of the UK it will impact on North East holidaymakers and businesses alike.

It could mean less travel routes from Newcastle airport with airline companies choosing to fly from Scotland instead. That would mean travellers affected facing a 120-mile drive to Edinburgh airport or 150 miles to Glasgow.

And long term it could pose a threat to some of the 3,500 jobs at the airport itself. And that figure doesn’t event take into account those companies in its supply chain.

The Scottish parliament has recently said it is soon to go ahead with long talked of plans to get rid of Airport Passenger Duty (APD) which can cost up to £450 per passenger.

He said: “We are not going to accept a situation where there’s unfair tax competition. We will do what’s necessary to make sure England’s regional airports can succeed.”

On Wednesday Chancellor Philip Hammond will reveal his Spring Budget outlining his plans for the country.

Will APD get a mention? If not on Wednesday many are hoping it will be soon.

Graeme Mason, Newcastle Airport’s planning and corporate affairs director, outlined what could be lost if that promise is not eventually met.

Graeme Mason, chair of the Chamber Transport Forum (Image: North East England Chamber of Commerce)

He said: “We want people to be able to fly from their local airport.

“It’s convenient and it’s good for the regional economy that they are able to fly locally so we don’t want them to have to trail all the way to Scotland to get the flights they need.”

The level of APD depends on the class of travel and the length of journey.

The APD rate for journeys up to 2,000 miles from April this year will be £13 per passenger for economy class, £26 for standard class and a £75 higher rate for those travelling in aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers

For journeys over 2,000 miles the equivalent figures are £75, £150 and £450.

Read More

It said if Scotland reduced the tax to zero and the whole of the UK didn’t follow suit, it could lose between 500,000 and 900,000 passengers a year.

Mr Mason added: “Because people are using a local airport it is generating jobs - 3,500 people work here at Newcastle airport and there are a lot of jobs in the supply chain across the region, so that’s good for the North East that they fly locally and generate jobs here. We don’t’ want to be exporting those jobs north of the border.”

When we contacted the Treasury for comment, a spokesperson said: “We asked stakeholders, including Newcastle Airport, about the impacts of air passenger duty devolution last year and there was no consensus for action.

“As a result, we’ve committed to revisiting the issue once the UK has left the European Union.”

A plane leaving Newcastle Airport (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

Read More

Nick Jones, Interim Chief Executive at Newcastle airport, said: “We welcome the recent dialogue we have had with the Government and hope this will lead to the identification of an appropriate solution during the course of 2017.”

However he commented: “The impact of changes to Air Passenger Duty in Scotland on both the Airport and the North East economy is so great that we must raise this important issue back up the Government’s agenda.

“Newcastle Airport is the international gateway for the North East and this would have a great impact on the entire region. The airport is crucial in delivering connectivity with a number of our routes very important to the business economy, providing them access to global markets.”